WASHINGTON, D.C. — All you need to know about this Marquette team can be summed up in a two minute stretch that happened early in the second half of the No. 3 seed Golden Eagle’s 71-61 win over No. 2 seed Miami in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.

The Hurricanes were a no-show, digging themselves a 14-5 hole in the first five minutes and finding themselves down 29-16 at the half. By the time Jim Larranaga called his first timeout of the second half with 14:47 left in the game, Miami was down 41-23 and you had to wonder if the Hurricanes were ever going to show up.

Well, they did, if only briefly.

Miami came out of that timeout and star point guard Shane Larkin drew a foul, which sent us to another TV timeout. That’s seven minutes of commercials broken up by 16 seconds of game time, enough to knock any team out of a rhythm. Larkin hit both free throws, and Miami immediately threw a press on. They forced a turnover by Trent Lockett immediately, which led to a layup for Durand Scott. Marquette wasn’t rattled, however, and calmly broke the press on their next possession, working the ball inside to Davante Gardner for a layup. Miami answered with a three, cutting the lead to 13 and finally putting together some kind of momentum offensively.

But Junior Cadougan broke Miami’s press singlehandedly on the next possession, going the length of the court for a layup. After another missed jumper from Kenny Kadji, Marquette worked the shot clock, getting a 15 foot jumper from Vander Blue to put them back up 17 with 12:17 left. That lead eventually grew to 21 points, and Miami wouldn’t get that close again until there was less than a minute left on the clock.

The Golden Eagles didn’t get rattled by that press. They weren’t affected by the fact that the first time they really got into a rhythm, they were forced to spend seven minutes sitting on the bench while the NCAA raked in TV’s advertising dollars. Not in the slightest. They calmly broke the press, then did it again, and then slowly but surely extended their lead.

That’s toughness.

“Buzz’s favorite quote is ‘ring the bell everyday’,” senior forward Jamil Wilson said after the game. What’s that mean? “Getting up and showing up every time.”

“In this part of the season, in March, crucial possessions can come back and haunt you. So we just define toughness by being there every possession.”

And for 40 minutes, Marquette did just that. Miami’s game-plan isn’t a secret. So much of what they do offensively runs through Larkin and his ability to use ball-screens from Miami’s big men to create. Thus, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Marquette’s focus on the defensive end of the floor was getting the ball out of Larkin’s hands. Every time Miami tried to set him a ball-screen, Marquette trapped him. If they were going to get beat, they were going to get beat by Trey McKinney Jones and Kenny Kadji and Rion Brown hitting threes, not by Larkin coming off of a ball-screen.

Marquette also took advantage of their size inside. With Reggie Johnson physically and Julian Gamble mentally back in Miami — Gamble finished with six points and six boards, the majority of which came when Miami was already down by 20 — Gardner and Chris Otule had their way in the paint, while Trent Lockett swooped in and finished with 11 boards, including one swooping, highlight-reel tip-dunk in traffic. All told, Marquette scored 40 of their 71 points in the paint.

“All of the things that we wanted to do — keep them out of the paint with their drives, keep them off the offensive boards, find the open man on our end and make some threes — we weren’t able to do any of those things,” Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said.

It’s only fitting that Buzz Williams finally broke his Sweet 16 curse with this group of cast-offs and misfits. Perhaps no team in his tenure in Milwaukee has better personified Marquette basketball than this group.

There aren’t any pros on this roster unless Vander Blue develops three-point range. Trent Lockett is a transfer from Arizona State. Jamil Wilson couldn’t crack the rotation at Oregon. Chris Otule called himself terrible coming out of high school. Davante Gardner is a 6-foot-7, 300 lb center that committed to Marquette over South Florida.

Everyone on this Marquette team has a chip on their shoulder. Everyone of them has been overlooked and underrecruited. Everyone of them, including their head coach, has gotten to where they are through grit and determination and effort. They are the epitome of an underdog.

Are they talented? Compared to me, yes. Compared to Indiana? Not as much.

The irony?

That’s what they want to hear. That’s what they feed off of. Pick them to lose in the opening round? Well, that just means the Golden Eagles are going to get that many more floor burns and fill up the puke buckets in practice just that much more.

“If you just look at our roster, you wouldn’t think we’re an Elite 8 team,” Blue said. “That fuels our fire. There’s nothing we can do about that. When we step on the court, if you don’t give us respect, we’re going to earn it. Sooner or later, you’ve gotta give credit where credit is due.”

More 2018 NCAA Tournament

With a crazy first weekend of the 2018 NCAA tournament in the books, it is time to examine the field’s conference breakdown heading into the Sweet 16.

While some multi-bid leagues like the AAC, Atlantic 10 and Pac-12 were shut out of the second weekend after miserable tournament showings, other leagues like the ACC and Big 12 lived up to the hype.

Here’s a look at the tournament’s conference breakdown before the Sweet 16.

4 — ACC

No. 2 Duke

No. 5 Clemson

No. 9 Florida State

No. 11 Syracuse

Notes: It’s not surprising to see the ACC with four teams in the Sweet 16 after getting nine teams in the Field of 68. What is surprising is that Clemson, Florida State and Syracuse are three of the four teams still left. The ACC could have dominated the field if No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 2 seed North Carolina held up their end of the bargain. Both were upset in blowout fashion. No. 6 seed Miami, No. 8 seed Virginia Tech and No. 9 seed N.C. State were all dropped in the first round as well. It’s also worth noting that three of these four teams (sorry, Florida State) reside in the Midwest Regional as the ACC will be guaranteed at least one Elite Eight team from Duke and Syracuse’s Sweet 16 matchup. The Blue Devils won the regular season matchup, 60-44, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in February as they’re looking like the best Final Four contender left from the bunch.

4 — Big 12

No. 1 Kansas

No. 3 Texas Tech

No. 5 West Virginia

No. 9 Kansas State

Notes: Many people considered the Big 12 the best (and toughest) top-to-bottom conference in America this season. By tying the ACC with the most teams still left in the field, the Big 12 backed up that sentiment with its first-weekend performance. Getting 40 percent of your conference into the Sweet 16 is a major accomplishment. It’s also notable that the top four teams in the Big 12’s regular season standings are all still playing basketball. The regular season results actually stayed true-to-form during the tournament. The league’s only disappointments stem from No. 6 TCU’s upset loss to No. 11 seed Syracuse, Trae Young and No. 10 seed Oklahoma falling in overtime to No. 8 seed Rhode Island and No. 10 seed Texas blowing a double-digit lead No. 7 seed Nevada.

2– Big Ten

No. 2 Purdue

No. 3 Michigan

Notes: This is a decent showing for the Big Ten as all four tournament teams won in the first round while two of the teams advanced to the second weekend. Purdue lost big man Isaac Haas to an elbow injury but the No. 2 seed Boilermakers still beat No. 10 seed Butler for the second time this season. Amidst all of the chaos on the left side of the bracket in the South and West Regionals, No. 3 seed Michigan is the highest remaining seed among that group of eight teams. It was stunning to see No. 3 seed Michigan State get bounced by a double-digit seed for the second time in three years as they fell to No. 11 seed Syracuse. The Spartans were a credible national title threat, as their early exit does tarnish some of the Big Ten’s success. No. 5 seed Ohio State also finds themselves out after losing to No. 4 seed Gonzaga in the Round of 32. The Big Ten was certainly down this season. Michigan State’s loss is a major letdown. But it could have been much worse. At least the Big Ten might have a dark horse Final Four contender pan out in red-hot Michigan and Purdue is still dangerous without Haas.

2 — SEC

No. 5 Kentucky

No. 7 Texas A&M

Notes: The SEC finally might have showed its true colors after a bizarre regular season that nobody could have predicted. Only two of eight NCAA tournament team are still left as the SEC was gutted after losses. After both failing to live up to preseason projections for most of the season, No. 5 seed Kentucky and No. 7 seed Texas A&M are both peaking at the right time. It’s hard to believe, but the Wildcats are now the favorite in the South Regional now that the top four seeds have all been eliminated. And after the Aggies earned a blowout win over defending champion and No. 2 seed North Carolina, they should also be taken seriously. It’s the rest of the SEC that is hard to take seriously after this weekend. Co-conference regular season champions No. 4 seed Auburn and No. 3 seed Tennessee were both ousted — the Tigers were flat-out embarrassed by No. 5 seed Clemson. No. 6 seed Florida and No. 9 seed Alabama both won openers before bowing out in the second round. No. 7 seed Arkansas and No. 8 seed Missouri both exited the event after the first round. With only two of eight teams left in the field, this wasn’t what the SEC had in mind after a resurgent season for basketball. The two remaining teams could still salvage the SEC’s season with a deep tournament run. Both of those inconsistent teams could implode at a moment’s notice.

1 — Big East

No. 1 Villanova

Notes: The 2018 NCAA tournament has been brutal for the six-bid Big East. The Wildcats have shot the ball at an extremely high level for two games. The rest of the conference was a disaster. Xavier, the league’s second No. 1 seed, was upset by No. 9 seed Florida State. No. 8 seed Seton Hall and No. 10 seed Butler were both bounced in the second round as well by No. 1 seed Kansas and No. 2 seed Purdue, respectively. Creighton and Providence couldn’t even make it out of the first round after losses to No. 9 seed Kansas State and No. 7 seed Texas A&M. This was a year to forget for the Big East.

1 — Missouri Valley Conference

No. 11 Loyola

Notes: The Ramblers advancing to the Sweet 16 is important for the Valley because it signifies that the league can still make noise in March without Wichita State. It probably feels even better for the Valley knowing that the Shockers also lost in the first round to No. 13 seed Marshall. One Valley head coach even made sure to mention all of that on Twitter.

1 — Mountain West

No. 7 Nevada

Notes: The Wolf Pack are in the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history (2004) as the tournament’s comeback kids are a dangerous bunch. With two double-digit second-half comebacks already, Nevada is a team that you can never count out. No. 11 seed San Diego State, the league’s only other tournament team, got Rob Grayed against No. 6 seed Houston in the first round, but the Aztecs at least made a respectable second-half comeback before losing.

1 — West Coast Conference

No. 4 Gonzaga

Notes: Back in the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season, Gonzaga has remained one of the tournament’s most consistent teams in recent years. Even after losing multiple pieces from last season’s national runner-up, the Zags managed to be the last Final Four team from last season still in the 2018 field.

PLAYER OF THE DAY

Caleb Martin was, once again, a monster for Nevada on Sunday.

He finished with 25 points. He handed out seven assists. He put the No. 7-seed Wolf Pack on his back and carried them back from a 22-point deficit in the final 12 minutes of a game that looked like it was lost.

THEY WERE GOOD, TOO

T.J. STARKS, Texas A&M: While Tyler Davis and Big Bob Williams combined for 26 points and 22 boards, it was Starks that was the star for the Aggies on Sunday, finishing with 21 points and five assists in a blowout win over UNC.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams took a moment to reflect on a special three-year run after the Tar Heels were eliminated from the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a blowout loss to No. 7 seed Texas A&M on Sunday.

After back-to-back national title game appearances and a championship win last season, Williams grew quite fond of seniors like Joel Berry II and Theo Pinson. Williams also mentioned some of the tumultuous circumstances surrounding the program from the past few years as he maintained that his players helped him through a difficult stretch in his life.

Speaking to reporters at the postgame press conference, Williams tried to subdue the emotion in his voice as he talked about this Tar Heels team.